The Irish standard., 1887-02-12
AS A FRENCHMAN SEES IT.
A Writer in the Journal Des Debats On the
Plan Of Oampaign-A Caustic Arraign-
1nent of British Misrule ir ireland.
THE. CAUSES OF DlsC0NTENT,
The Home Rule Argument Fairly and
I'orcibly stated-=English and
Continental Farmers.

unllI paper, uaS O6en studying tlc Slt'
ufation in Ireland; and after finishing
his tour he wrote as follows On the Plan
Of Campaign and other points connected
with it: 1t may be that in France this
plan will appear violent. but the situa-
tion in Ireland is peculiar. and it is inn
possible to put it in the same category
as the continental countries. OF even
the two other countries of the United
Kingdom. A conquered country sub
jected to special laws, Ireland is ruled
by fun ctionaries who have only one OBJ
ject in view. to please the central ad-
ministration, and to prove to their
chiefs that everything is for the best
in the best Of all worlds. The landlords
as body do not live in Ireland, and all
they care about is to get as much rent
as possible, that they may go and ex-
pend it in England. at Paris and vi
emma, OF lose il ;;t Monaco. They have
killed the goose which laid the golden
eggs. The farmers, through their par
liamentary representatives, have vainly
called upon the government TO come to
their assistance in an etfectual manner
A slight improvement in their situation
was brought about by the bills Of 1870,
1881 and 1855, but the remedy has not
been wholly efficacious. for the rents
fixed judicially are still too high as is
admitted by the land commissioners. 1t
WAS in order to PIT an end, once for all
to this difficulty chat Mir. Gladstone
elaborated his two measures for the
purchase of the land and for granting
home rule. With the same object MI.
parnell proposed his bill allowing the
tenants to deposit 50 per cent. of their
rents until it was legally decided what
amount they should pay. These three
measures were rejected, and the farmers
were compelled to have recourse to the
plan of campaign which has caused so
MECH irritation to the landlords. No
one, of course, has q right to take the
law into lis own hands, except for self
defence. The Irish declare that at the
the present moment, owing to the
ill will Of the landlords and the inca,
pacity Of the government, they are sim
ply acting on the defensive Zen etat de
legitime defence). 1t is needless to say
that since the attorney general formu-
lated his opinion On the plan OF cam
paiga the castle authorities have been
greatly embarrassed, placed as they are
between the anvil and the hammer, be-
tween the landlords, who demand tlleir
pound Of flesh, like Shylock. aud the
farmers, who are determined not to
give in TO them, but to obtain a salts
factory settlement. The government
is hesitating and vacillating. Fits of
violence alternate with movements of
calm, according to the inpulsion that
it receives from outside. One day it
forces Sir Robert Hamilton to send il
his resignation because he is too Irish;
the next day it appoints as his success
sor Sir Revers Butler, as more friendly
to the farmers. Immediately after.
wards it prosecutes MIR. John Dillon for
having made speeches exhorting The
farmers to unite to defeat the land
lords. In the meantime the National
League continues it's work, the agrar-
ian movement acquires each day new
intensity, and the agitation in it's full
lest scope becomes daily more and
more irresistible. Some solution of the
Irish question is inevitable; it may be
delayed, but it cannot be altogether
placed on one side. What is it that the
Irish ask for? First, the right to live
or, in other words, a settlement Of the
agrarian question. Next. the right tc
govern themselves-thatis to say, homs
rule. With regard to the first de-
mand. there are no people in Europe sc
easily satisfied as the Irish, and al they
require is that they may obtain the
land on such terms as will permit then
after giving the landlord his due, tt
nourish themselves and families. That
is equivalent to saying that large pro
portion of the existing rents must be
reduced. Those that were fixed by ths
land court are too high, owing to the
reduction in the price of cereals. re.
duction that shows no signs of disap
pearing; rather the contrary. This is
admitted by everybody. and the fact
remains that the farmer, the Irish
peasant, can only pay his rent on con
dition that he starves himself to death
This, reduced to it's simplest expression
is the question now agi5ating the puolit
mind. Surely, tits only just that The
landlord should bear his share Of thu
loss resulting from universal state O:
things. Itmay not be pleasant, but b.
must face the fact that the price O